Invisible Touch
by Rael74
Summary: Desperately needing help getting to know Jackie, Marco receives Star's aid in the form of a potion which will release his inhibitions. At the same time, Star continues her own romantic pursuit of Oskar. Will both be successful? And how would success change their relationship with each other? My first fic, with a new update after a brief hiatus. Reviews are highly encouraged!
1. Invisible Touch

Chapter 1: Invisible Touch

The Echo Creek Academy school day began at 8:00 am, by which time students were expected to arrive promptly at home room to begin another exciting day of their educational journey. For at ECA, a student's day was truly an exciting one.

Since her arrival a few months prior, Star Butterfly had become the talk of the school, and rightfully so. She was an extradimensional princess whose magic and adventurous exploits frequently disrupted classes and endangered the school. Naturally, the students loved her for it. The bubbly and unpredictable Star could liven up a day in unimaginable ways, and students now raced to class in the hopes Star would surprise them again.

And surprise them she did, though not in the way they expected… if that made any sense. Star was seated at the side of the class by the window with a pair of binoculars pressed tightly against her eyes. Whatever she was looking at, she was doing so with an intensity that called for her complete attention. The students walking in muttered to each other in confusion, sitting down and conversing somewhat disappointed with today's showing (a 4/10 at best).

Trailing in behind the majority of students was the person most accustomed to Star's zaniness. Marco Diaz, resident safe kid and Star's best friend, hesitantly took his seat next to Star, trying to discern what Star could be on the watch for. As he got closer, he began to make out Star murmuring to herself.

"F… F… B… C… F again…."

"Uh, Star? Are you trying to read your report card or something? Because it's about five miles away."

Star waved dismissively at Marco, her focus still glued on the outside. "Don't be silly, Marco! You know I could never get a B. I'm watching Oskar play his keyboards."

Looking out, Marco could see that the oddball delinquent Oskar Greason was indeed stationed at his usual spot on top of his car in the parking lot some ways away, fingering away on his ever present keyboard. Star sighed, resting a hand at her cheek. "His composing skills are beyond words…"

Marco cringed. Star wasn't wrong, but most other students weren't exactly swooning over Oskar's cacophonous noisemaking. While the wannabe musician was thankfully far enough away for his music not to be heard in the classroom, Star's fascination with Oskar was still a mystery to the Earth boy.

"You can make out what keys he's playing with those things? Impressive." Marco said, shrugging off her controversial appraisal of Oskar's talents.

Apparently satisfied with her eavesdropping, Star reached for the wand at her side and poofed away her visual aid. "Yeah, magical binoculars are at least 75% more effective than non-magical binoculars. Thatpercentagehasnotbeenverified, magicalbinocularsmayinfactbelesseffectivethantheirnonmagicalcounterparts."

Marco laughed. "And out of curiosity, with regards to your ongoing crush, have you tried actually talking to him yet?"

Her eyes darting away, Star avoided his gaze as she started playing with her hands. "Yeah… we talked on the phone once."

Marco leaned in, hoping to reclaim Star's attention. Speaking in a slow and helpful tone, he suggested, "Well, maybe you could try talking to him in person."

Star's hands suddenly slammed down on her desk, giving Marco a look as if he had insulted her mother. "Are you kidding? He's in the midst of creating musical masterpieces, I can't just walk up and interrupt him! What if I break his concentration right as he's composing his magnum opus?!"

"That may be a risk you have to take. Who knows? Maybe you'll inspire him to create something even more beautiful." As beautiful a song as Oskar can make, Marco thought to himself.

Star's expression brightened as she took in the idea. "You really think so?"

"Sure, I think you're pretty, er, inspirational!"

The princess grinned widely. "Thanks Marco! I think I will go talk to Oskar." Her arm slung around Marco's shoulder, pulling him closer. "Right after you go and talk to Jackie Lynn Thomas."

Marco's heart froze at the mention of _her_ name. Now it was his turn to look away. "T-that is completely different," he said, blushing profusely.

"And how is that?"

"Well… for one thing, I already have talked to her. Remember how we sat together on the bus? That's how I got this bad boy!" Pulling out his phone, Marco quickly pulled up Jackie's contact on his phone and showed it to Star. The skater girl had taken a selfie, giving the camera one of her trademark chill smiles.

"Niiiiice," Star admired, winking and giving a thumbs up in approval. "So where does that put you on your twenty-three step plan?"

Marco placed his phone back in his pocket. "'Get her to take a selfie for me'? That was step seven."

Star patted her friend enthusiastically on the back. "Makin' progress! Now why don't you keep up that momentum and talk to her when she comes in?"

Marco slunk in his seat and raised his hands defensively. "Ehhh, best not to bother her too much. Casual conversation isn't till step twelve. Besides, I've got to come prepared with just the right material."

Frowning in frustration, Star pulled Marco out of his slump and forced him to attention. "Marco, you can't over-prepare for _true love_." Star's eyes magnified at the words, lost in the beauty of the very concept. "You just go up and say what's on your mind!"

"But that's the problem: when I go up to her my mind goes blank."

"It all comes with experience, Marco! And you'll never get to know more about her if you don't talk to her."

That particular comment didn't sit right with Marco. "What do you mean? I know more about Jackie than anyone else in school!"

"Like what?" Star asked, her arms crossed skeptically.

"Like how she arrives at school at precisely 7:56 each morning, how her hair dye color is Aquamarine number—"

"Yeah, but what do you know about _her_?" Star butted in. "What's her favorite movie, what kind of music does she like, what are her pastimes?"

Marco stared at Star silently, biting his lip deep as he pondered for a moment. "Well… she likes to skateboard…"

Star gasped in excitement. "There ya go! Talk to Jackie about skateboarding!"

"Star, I don't know anything about skateboarding!" Marco said exasperatedly.

"All the more reason to ask Jackie about it!" Star said, her smile growing wider.

"Ask me about what?" A voice spoke out from behind Marco. For a moment, Marco seemed to stop functioning, his face contorted and his body in a tense, frozen position. Turning around, Marco looked up to see Jackie Lynn Thomas smiling at him expectantly. The sight of the love of his life sent Marco into a frenzy.

"Jackie?! Oh, um, h-hi! Star and me… that is to say, er, Star and I… well I just wondering…" Marco sputtered out helplessly. The aimless gesticulating accompanying his babble wasn't helping matters. Deciding she had seen enough, Star stepped in to push Marco in the right direction.

"Marco just wanted to ask you about skateboarding, right Marco?" She nudged him encouragingly and gestured to the skater girl in front of them. Marco's eyes darted frantically between the two girls.

"Um… that's… yes."

Jackie grew noticeably more excited. "Aw, rad! What did you wanna know, Marco?

Breathing heavily and lost in a daze, what was left of Marco's mind decided it would be easiest to take it one word at a time. "I… wanted… to… know… what… you… do... with… skateboards."

Jackie looked at him inquisitively. "Like, what kind of tricks I do?" Marco let out an affirmative squeak. "Oh, cool. Well, I just got a new board, so I haven't broken it in much yet, but I just like to do some bigspins, some nosegrinds, stuff like that. I have to test it out on the ramps this weekend, see if I can pull off a fastplant."

Marco's eyes glazed over. Was she still speaking English? His mouth opened and close like a goldfish as he tried to come up with some sort of response. Before any noise could escape his lips, the school bell rang and Ms. Skullnick plodded into the room. Noticing this, Jackie spoke up and said, "I guess I'll have to tell you more some other time. Later, Marco! Later, Star!" She waved as she strolled to the opposite corner of the room to where her girl-friends awaited her.

"Later, Jackie!" Star shouted as she waved across the room. Marco, in contrast sat frozen where he had been the past minute, shock and confusion still dominating his face. At last movement arose in his body, only to slam his face into his desk in utter embarrassment.

"Oh, god… this girl is messing me up," he muttered nearly inaudibly with his face hidden.

"But you looooove heeeeer!" Star sang out in a whisper, hoping to cheer up the distraught boy next to her. With no visible response, however, Star resignedly turned away to let Marco recover on his own. That wasn't to say she had given up on him. On the contrary, her mind raced to solve the problem of Marco's bashfulness. He was her best friend, and no matter how long it took her, she was determined to give him a helping hand. She did have magic after all, and magic solved problems 75% more effectively.

Usually.


	2. Anything She Does

Chapter 2: Anything She Does

The school day ended quickly enough for Marco, who was so put out by his failure with Jackie that he barely noticed eight hours had passed. When he and Star returned home, he slunk back onto his bed to bathe in his self-contempt for a while before deciding to do something a bit more proactive. Pulling out his laptop, he began to research anything he could find on skateboarding culture. Star might have said he shouldn't over-prepare, surely this was preparing just the right amount? It certainly couldn't lead to a worse result than this morning.

Unfortunately, Marco was left just as puzzled now as he had been speaking to Jackie. He discovered websites featuring long lists of skateboarding moves by category, and videos of skater bros pulling of what were apparently high difficulty tricks. The lingo was impenetrable. "Ollie to fakie"? It sounded like a comedy short from the 30s. Marco groaned as he continued to look up definitions. He managed to do pretty well with school research projects, surely he could gain a basic grounding in skateboarding?

He wondered what on earth Jackie saw in the sport as he clicked on a video labeled "MAJOR BOARDING FAIL". A few skaters were gathered at the top of a half pipe watching their friend do tricks on either end. Marco was in the middle of trying to identify what moves the daredevil was executing when things suddenly went awry. The boarder had grabbed on to the top of the ramp to perform a trick when his wrist suddenly buckled, bone breaking audibly. He yelled out in pain, losing his grip and sliding down the ramp with a harsh screech. Blood and flesh scraped down the sides as the skateboard landed on the guy's head, knocking him out. Just off-screen were disappointed mutterings of, "whoa… bummer".

A distinct bead of sweat trickled down the wide-eyed safe kid's face. Horrorstruck, Marco slowly closed the laptop and placed it off the bed. That was enough research for one day.

"Hey, Marco. How are you doing?" Star peeked around the corner of his doorway, giving a small but comforting smile. At school she had allowed Marco to blow off steam by himself, something he had appreciated a lot. In the comfort of their home, though, she hoped to bring him out of the dumps.

"Looking on the bright side, I've eliminated professional skate boarder as a potential career choice," Marco said dolefully. His arms lay outstretched at his sides as he stared at the ceiling with his head in a pillow.

Star bit her lip. There was only so much she could to do cheer him up. She couldn't get swallowed by a fish every time he was unhappy. That sort of thing only worked once, maybe twice. Five times tops.

"Well… it's not like you need to suddenly become a great skateboarder to talk to Jackie."

"No. But it would help." Marco glumly grabbed his phone and pulled up Jackie's selfie. "Maybe I can just pretend this is the real Jackie. She'd probably be easier to talk to."

Star made her way to the bed, slapping Marco's phone to the bed and grabbing his hand. "Marco, friends don't let friends date photographs," she said, giving him a serious stare. "You want to get to know Jackie, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then you'll just have to summon the confidence to talk to her."

Marco sat up on the bed. "You saw what happened today! I nearly had a heart attack just looking at her. I get too nervous to talk to her, it's just not in my temperament."

Star began to pull at a lock of her hair, her eyes suddenly shifting away from Marco's. "Riiight… but what if we could… _change_ your temperament a little bit?"

Marco eyed her suspiciously. He had seen that expression before, and it usually ended badly for him. "Star, what are you suggesting?" he asked warily.

"... just hear me out," Star said as she grabbed her wand and magically zapped something onto Marco's bed. A large, ancient-looking book suddenly appeared between them: Star's Magic Instruction Book.

"I've been looking through this since we got home to see if it had anything to help you with your Jackie problem," she said, lifting the tome and paging through hit rapidly. Stopping at the page she was looking for, a barely concealed look of excitement came over her face. "I think I've found just the thing."

Marco grasped the book and moved it out of the way. In the manner of a patient parent reprimanding their child, he said calmly, "Star. Do I need to remind you of the last times we tried using magic to solve my problems? And the disastrous results that ensued?"

"Pfff. I wouldn't call them _disastrous_."

Marco leaned forward, fumbling underneath his bed for a moment before taking out a clipboard and a pair of glasses. Placing on the spectacles, he began to read from the clipboard's paper, counting off on his fingers. "Problem: I have a broken arm that needs to be fixed. Magical Solution: I get a demonic Monster Arm." He gave Star a blank stare before resuming. "Problem: I need to get to school on time to see Jackie. Magical Solution: Freeze time. Permanently. Problem: I have trouble growing facial hair. Magical Solution: I grow a beard so big it fills the entire house. Probl—"

"You know, anything sounds bad if you _list_ it," Star interrupted, having grown quite red. She reached for the Instruction Book again and returned to the page she had found. "Besides, I didn't know exactly what I was doing with all those other spells. I won't take any chances on you this time, Marco. I've done all the research on… the Potion of Inner Power!" She said, adding an extra flourish of wonder. She positioned the book so that Marco could see what she was talking about. In the book was a large drawing of a vial containing a greenish liquid. Curious, Marco read the accompanying text.

"'Collecting the excretion of the Heracleum mantegazzianum and enchanting it with the proper incantation will create the Potion of Inner Power. Whosoever consumes this potion will unlock their hidden potential, the inner strength and skills otherwise too deeply buried in one's psyche to properly express.'"

"Doesn't that sound like the perfect thing for you?!" Star asked excitedly.

"A potion that would unlock my psyche? Hmm… I dunno. What does Glossaryk have to say about this?"

Star shrugged. "Don't know where he is. He hasn't been around lately."

Meanwhile, on the other side of Echo Creek, the eccentric, blue-skinned master of magic lay reposed on a miniature lawn chair. Opening his mouth wide, he gleefully accepted another spoonful of pudding being fed to him. "Mmm… I must say… slurp… this homemade pudding is some of the best I've ever tasted," he said, smacking his lips as he spoke. He gave a half bow in his seat. "My complements to Chef Janna." The girl in question grabbed a spoonful of pudding from a bowl and fed another helping to Glossaryk, who eagerly accepted it.

"And there's plenty more where that came from," Janna said with a wily grin "Now, what was that you were saying about necromancy?"

Back in the Diaz household, Marco was still skeptical of his friend's idea. "I appreciate the thought, Star, but I've been burned way too many times by magic. I mean, what if this potion turns me into a troll or something?"

Star grabbed Marco by the shoulders, holding him in place. "Listen, I know you don't completely trust magic with your problems, and I don't blame you. But this time I've been extra, extra careful to not mess anything up. The book is very clear: the potion doesn't add anything that isn't already inside you. And I know what's inside you are the skills and confidence to talk to Jackie Lynn Thomas. You just need to see it for yourself."

Marco blushed. "Thanks, Star. That means a lot."

Star smiled back. "Soooo?"

Marco couldn't help but grin. "You're very convincing, Ms. Butterfly. As usual. Okay, let's give it a shot. Time to follow your lead like always."

Star squealed in excitement, squeezing Marco tightly. "Yes! Jackie won't know what hit her! Come on, let's go get the main ingredient for the potion!" She grabbed Marco's hand and pulled him of the bed, rushing down the hall to her room. Arriving at her desk, she picked up her dimensional scissors and began to make an incision in the fabric of reality.

"So what exactly is this thing that excretes the ingredient? A hairclump whatever?"

Star finished creating the portal and turned back to Marco and grabbed his hand. "Oh, it's just a really huge and dangerous monster we have to fight. Let's go!"

"Uhhh—"

Before Marco could react, Star had pulled him through the portal. Her laughing was heard for just a moment before the portal closed and the two of them had vanished.


	3. The Brazilian

Chapter 3: The Brazilian

To those who dared to tread there, the dimension of Mantegazziani gave off a wondrous and dazzling impression. On the ground was a vast jungle enveloping long-abandoned ancient cities, the flora dominating the ruins of once great cities. Above, the laws of physics were such that there was no separation between day and night; the sun shined brightly, surrounded by twinkling stars in a dark canvas of sky. And without any animals to be seen, not even birds or bugs, the effect of the breathtaking view was enhanced by the eerie silence accompanying it; this silence was broken by the sudden appearance of an interdimensional portal just outside a ruined city, from which two teenagers emerged. Tumbling onto the native soil of the dimension, Marco stood up and took in landscape before him.

"Woah… What is this place?" he wondered aloud, his jaw dropped in amazement. Star, who had exited the portal more gracefully than Marco, approached him from behind.

"The home dimension of the Heracleum mantegazzianum." Star spoke with surprising seriousness, and Marco noticed her eyes were fixed on the ancient buildings in front of them. "These ruins were once a great and prosperous city. But its people disturbed the mantegazzianium, and invited its wrath. The creatures are so destructive, just one was able to bring the city to its knees. Thousands of lives lost. No survivors. They say the monster lives here to this day"

Marco swallowed, heart pounding in his chest. He had been fairly sobered by the somber story. "Wow…" was all he could manage to say.

"Yeah…" Star nodded solemnly, still looking at the city. Upon turning to Marco, she revealed a beaming smile on her face. "Let's go in and kick its butt!"

Thrown by the sudden change in mood, Marco giggled nervously. "Sure, I didn't have any plans for this weekend anyway. Why not go get ourselves killed?" He started walking resignedly into the city entrance, Star soon catching up with him. As the two made their way past winding pathways and overgrown vegetation, Star continued the conversation.

"Marco, we fight monsters together twice a week, usually like ten at a time! We're practically experts at monster-fighting. I'm sure the two of us can handle one, iddy biddy monster!"

Marco smirked as he and Star walked through a particularly dense tangle of stalks sprouting from the ground. Ludo's minions weren't exactly bloodthirsty beasts, but they were monsters nonetheless. "Well, you're not wrong. Plus, you're getting better with your magic, and I'm coming along with my karate training. I bet this tiny wittle monster won't even land a hit on us!"

Star grinned, pleased at Marco's confidence growing (but mostly because she was thinking of fighting monsters). "Yeah, I bet he won't even see us coming! 'Oooh nooo! Marcoo! Please stop whacking me with your lightning fast karate chops!'" She growled in a goofy voice, raising her arms to defend herself from the imagined attacks from Marco. The boy laughed in response, playing along with a faux-mocking tone.

"'Sorry monster, but it looks like Star's already started force feeding you magical Narwhals!" he warned with a shaming wag of his finger. "My, they look big today, too!'"

The princess snorted with laughter. "That is classic Star!"

The two friends both laughed at this, their voices echoing throughout the abandoned city around them. They had just walked out of the patch of plants when their hilarity died down somewhat. "So, this monster? Um, a harem Monty Brazilian whatever?"

"Harecleum mantegazzianum?" Star responded automatically, shaking some tangled weeds from her feet.

"Right, that. What exactly does it look like anyway? I don't exactly know what I'm looking for."

"Don't worry, these creatures may be elusive, but they're easily identifiable. They're green, super tall and skinny, with really long tendrils and white flowers."

Marco paused, furrowing his brow. "Wait. White flowers? You're saying that this monster we're looking for is—"

"A plant, yes," Star confirmed with a nod. Marco, meanwhile, remained frozen in bewilderment. Never mind the fact that the supposedly genocidal monsters was a piece of vegetation. With Star, he'd seen crazier things. What concerned him was the large gathering of weeds with white flowers they had just walked through. Suddenly, Marco noticed soft rustling that had been coming from behind him. The teen felt his heart drop to his stomach. Slowly turning around, he beheld the source of the noise.

"Uhh… S-Star?"

"Hmm?" The girl had been looking farther ahead for the destructive plant, but upon hearing Marco's call and spinning around to him, she realized she didn't needn't search any further.

"Oh, look. There it is…"

Fully emerging from the mass of weeds was a plant unlike anything either of them had seen. Standing at some fifteen feet tall, a tall, pliable stalk stood upright on roots functioning as feet. With two thick, long tendrils, it pushed itself from its subterranean hiding place, revealing a large white flower at the top of the stalk. In the center of the stalk, a wide, snarling mouth slowly widened, opening to let loose an angry howl.

Unnerved by the fearsome beast, Marco spoke up nervously. "So, uh, I think we should run?"

"I concur," Star said calmly, before the two took of sprinting in the opposite direction of the ferocious plant. With an angered road, the creature took chase behind them, its unearthed roots carrying the lumbering beast at a surprising speed. Star and Marco ran as fast they could, navigating through winding alleys and streets of the ruins. Marco eyed the monster behind them nervously.

"Why did we awaken the wrath of this terrifying monster again?!" He shouted, narrowly avoiding a low hanging branch in his way.

"We need its sap! It's the main ingredient in your potion! Here, hold out your hand!" Star yelled back, fiddling nervously for her wand. When she retrieved it at last, she summoned a large corked vial into Marco's possession. "I'll distract it with my magic, you collect some excretion when it's not looking! Ready-set-go!" Star dashed off with a war cry at a fork in the path, leaving Marco to continue running on his own.

"Wait, Star! How am I supposed to—" Marco was interrupted by sudden THUMP a few feet away. The monster had flung its tendril towards him, punching the ground with great force and very nearly decapitating him. With a "Gah!" he quickened his pace and weaved through more buildings before he heard Star's voice from behind him.

"Hey, plant monster!" Star had found her way to the roof of a building a short distance away, standing in defiance towards the creature. "Leave him alone and come over here! I've got something to shooow you!" Sure enough, the plant roared and changed direction, disregarding the fleeing Marco and heading toward Star. Once it had gotten close enough, Star raised her wand in front of her.

"Frozen Force of Frostulation!" she shouted, her wand shooting out a blast of concentrated cold air and ice directly at the plant. The monster recoiled in pain, continuing its rampage but significantly slowed down. "Heheh. I thought that would _chill_ you out… Thank you, Banagic Wand!" Star said to herself with a self-satisfied grin. Marco wouldn't have let that pun go unchallenged had he heard it. Suddenly reminded of the situation at hand, Star spotted Marco emerging cautiously from behind a corner.

"Now, Marco! Collect some sap from its stalk!" She shouted out as she beamed another ice blast at the monster. Marco approached the distracted plant cautiously, readying himself for defensive karate moves if necessary. Pulling the cork from the vial Star had conjured, he got close enough behind the monster that he was in arms reach of the base of its stalk, ready to scrape off some sap. The stalk was covered with dangerous looking bristles, with no sap to be seen. Did he have to penetrate the exterior? How?

"Star, where is this sap supposed to—AAH!" Marco shrieked as the plant noticed his presence and shot some sort of projectile from its mouth. Barely dodging out of the way, Marco looked down at what had nearly blown off half of his face. On the ground hissed a brownish purple substance looking extremely dangerous.

"That's it, Marco! That's its toxic sap!" Star leapt from the building onto the ground and began to make her way towards Marco. She shot a third blast at the plant, but it had apparently grown resistant to the effects of the cold spell.

"Toxic?!" Marco was about to voice his concern over not having been warned of this fact when the enormous monster let out another screech from above. Hurrying himself, Marco scrambled to the ground and scooped up enough of the sap to fill the vial, being very careful to let any touch his skin. Popping the cork back in, Marco ran off just in time to avoid another tendril slamming down.

"I've got it, Star! Now let's leave! Immediately!" Seeing Marco rushing towards her with the plant close behind, Star pulled out her dimensional scissors and hurriedly made a snip in the air. Hearing the monster frothing up another projectile of toxic sap, Marco sprinted the final few yards to the open portal.

"Hurry, Marco!" Star stood by the portal with her wand outstretched defensively in one hand, the other reaching towards Marco, her attention entirely on him. Hearing the monster hack out its poison, Maroc's attention turned to Star, unaware of the oncoming danger.

"Star!" Marco gave dove towards his friend, pushing her down and sending them both tumbling to through the portal as the sap landed just where had stood. With the portal shrinking to nonexistence behind them, all that was left to be heard in the dimension of Mantegazziani was its namesake's piercing howl.

On the other side of the portal, back in Star's room on Earth, the two teens landed in a heap on the floor. Marco reached for a bruised arm while Star rubbed her head and brushed her hair from her eyes, both panting heavily from their ordeal.

"Whew. Thanks for the save Marco," Star said, adjusting her headband before laying back on the floor in exhaustion.

"Don't mention it," Marco said with a groan. "You saved by neck with those freeze spells of yours. That said…" He turned his body on the floor so that he was facing Star. "Next time might I suggest a lawnmower spell?"

Having decided that their Friday evening was already eventful, the two went straight to a well-deserved sleep. Marco enjoyed the rest, but when he woke up the next morning, he had the distinct feeling he had dreamt of giant flowers on skateboards taking selfies and laughing at him. Shaking off the latent anxiety, he took a shower (being careful to scrub off anything that remotely resembled toxic sap) and got dressed. Joining Star in her room, Marco saw that the large vial containing the sap had been placed on her desk.

"Okay, so we've retrieved the monster sap. Simple enough task. Now what?"

Plunking her Spell Book on the desk next to the vial, Star quickly flipped back to the relevant page. "Now, all I have to do is recite the incantation, enchant the sap, and we'll have a potion of secret unlocked power on our hands!" Star's eyes gleamed, the girl barely restraining her excitement. Reading from the book, Star held her wand in front of the vial. " _Potionatus interioram potentiam!_ "

The wand emanated a bright light which filled the room, causing the sap to bubble and light up as brightly as the wand. After a few moments, the lights faded, the unpleasant brown sap having changed to a golden hue.

"Oooh. Soothing. Like a lava lamp." Star grabbed the vial and removed the cork, pouring a small amount into a water bottle she had prepared. Holding it in outstretched hands, she presented the bottle to Marco. "Here ya go! I can't wait to see Jackie's face when you woo her off her feet!"

Marco stared at the bottle with uncertainty. Noticing this, Star reassured him. "Trust me Marco, it's completely safe. I mean, even if it wasn't, it couldn't be worse than that giant plant, right?" She gave a hopeful smile, which Marco returned.

"No, I do trust you. You've done a lot of work and research about this. And that's just it. You went on a deadly monster hunt just to help me out with my stupid Jackie problem."

"It's not stupid, Marco! It's true love!" She waved her arm through the air, staring off into the distance.

"Well, even so, I don't think it's fair of me to take this for myself. I say you take the first drink."

Star's eyes widened appreciatively. "Aww! That's sweet, Marco! But I don't really need to unlock my inner powers. Anything I want to do, I just do it!"

Marco cocked an eyebrow knowingly. "Anything? Even ask out Oskar on a date?"

At this, Star blushed, the hearts on her cheek seeming to glow vaguely darker color. "Y-yeah, sure. Can-Do Butterfly, that's what they call me."

Shrugging with a smile, Marco grabbed his phone from his pocket. "Okay. You've got his number in my phone. Call him and ask him to meet you today. I'm sure he's got nothing going on." He waved the phone in front of Star's face teasingly. Biting her lip nervously, Star put the water bottle down and slowly reached out for the phone and brought up Oskar's number.

"Oookaaaaay…" She twirled a lock of blonde hair in her fingers, her thumb frozen above the call button.

"You need any help?" Marco offered, holding the bottle of potion out to her. Star stared at it and pondered for a moment.

"No. Thanks, but… I think I can do this on my own." With that, Star pressed the call button and put it to her ear, bouncing up and down nervously.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmy heeey, Oskar!" She said at last when the musical outcast picked up. "This is me. Uh, I mean Star. Star Butterfly. We talked one time. Yeah. So listeeen. I was just wondering if you were free today. Oh, you're free every day! That's great! Well, I mean, it's a little sedentary, but that's great! So, um, would you maybe be interested in hanging out today. With me?" Star's eyes closed with anticipation, Marco watching and listening intently for the response. Soon Star's eyes opened wide.

"You are? Awesome! Spectacular! Wow. Oh right, when and where. Uhh…" Star looked toward Marco, who gave her two thumbs up and a beaming grin. A smile crawling to her face, Star returned her attention to the call, her eyes remaining locked on Marco. "How about 2:00 at the skate park? I hear Jackie Lynn Thomas is practicing her skateboarding this weekend. We can watch her and… chill."

Marco's expression quickly changed to wide-eyed shock, frozen at what he had heard. What was Star getting at?

"Okay, sounds good! See ya there! Bye Oskar! …Oh right, forgot to hang up. Bye Oskar!" Star ended the call and let out an enormous squee. "Oh my gosh, Marco, I actually did it! I'm hanging out with Oskar Greason!" She grabbed Marco and gave him the tightest hug she could manage. "Thank you for convincing me to do that! I couldn't have done it without you!"

"Urg… no problem," Marco managed to choke out, so great was the force of Star's embrace. When she let go, Marco coughed a bit before continuing. "But, uh, what's this about going to the skate park?"

Star's already ecstatic smile grew wider. "Well, since you goaded me into facing my fears and asking Oskar out, I figure I'd return the favor! To ask out Jackie, I mean. Not Oskar. We'll both go the skate park and we'll both talk to our prospective boyfriend and girlfriend! Mess-up twins graduating to true-love twins!"

Marco sighed nervously. "Oh boy, what have I done?"

Star grabbed his hands impatiently. "You're gonna go, aren't you?" Looking into Star's face, he thought the situation over. Star had done a lot to see him succeed with Jackie, just to see him as happy as she was right now. Even if he wasn't up to it, he had to do it for Star. How could he not?

Grabbing the water bottle from the desk, Marco looked at it for a moment. Then, smiling, with a look of determination, he spoke up. "When are we leaving?"


End file.
